Repaving during an event (1 Viewer)

[Jet]

Sorry for the questions but just wanderered over from the NHRA side. Was this an event that had been scheduled for some time? If so, didn't the track owners know the surface was suspect before the weekend? If so, how could they rationalize not doing this ahead of time?

Most tracks I have raced on the guys there could tell you the year it was paved and how the crown was and anything else you needed to know about it. It just seems strange that someone didn't know the condition of the asphalt that by grinding off the bumps it would thin it too much.

Oh well, I am glad the 1/8 mile worked and it sure does seem like an inexpensive way to run.

 

[luxexpress]

Sorry for the questions but just wanderered over from the NHRA side. Was this an event that had been scheduled for some time? If so, didn't the track owners know the surface was suspect before the weekend? If so, how could they rationalize not doing this ahead of time?

Most tracks I have raced on the guys there could tell you the year it was paved and how the crown was and anything else you needed to know about it. It just seems strange that someone didn't know the condition of the asphalt that by grinding off the bumps it would thin it too much.

Oh well, I am glad the 1/8 mile worked and it sure does seem like an inexpensive way to run.

I think they ran a divisional event a week or two ago with no problems and the Pro Mods, AFC and Pro Stocks went down the track without issues. I think the track was trying to provide the best possible surface for the race and it just could not hold up to the nitro cars. I am sure this is not the way they wanted to start the season but kudos to the IHRA for putting racer safety first - I am sure Eric was on their mind and they were going to take no chances. I bet it wasn't cheap to get a crew in to repave the track overnight either.

 

[Sully]

Aaron is absolutely correct - the track was fine until the nitro cars with their giant slicks started pulling up the top layer of asphalt in the right lane. Once they started to repair the damage they discovered the root of the problem and a 4X400 foot patch turned into an 8X700 patch.

 

[rocketman]

Well OK. I understand the track and IHRA had to play the hand they were dealt. Sounds like they made the right decission. But where did the oil down come to play? Or am I thinking of two different situations?

 

[luxexpress]

Well OK. I understand the track and IHRA had to play the hand they were dealt. Sounds like they made the right decission. But where did the oil down come to play? Or am I thinking of two different situations?

It was during an oil down that they noticed the track was coming apart.

 

[Sully]

When they clean up an oildown, they expect to find oil and race car parts, but they were also finding a lot of gravel and that's unusual on the top end of the track. So they took a closer look at the track surface and found a few places where it was breaking up.

The whole thing has race officials thinking - the crowd last night really enjoyed the show - there was only one oildown and the show was right in front of the crowd and moved right along. While they are not likely to drop quarter-mile racing, they might add a few eighth-mile events in future seasons. Actually, the ADRL has already shown that there's a market for quick, heads-up, eighth-mile racing and the IHRA just might venture into that territory.

 

[scubasteve]

congrats to bertozzi for the win and r/u in super stock slate " u caint" cummings

 

[Larry]

You really don't want to race on a green as grass surface. Tough luck but hey they got the race in so thats good.

 

[turbo ken]

San Antonio Raceway is my home track (I'm there soo much I should own part of it by now, plus I know the track owners Todd and Judy Zampeze well) the IHRA's track surface specialist came in a couple of month's ago and ground the track to remove some small bumps, there were some races run after the grinding process and there was no problems, during last weekends divisional races the low 6 second top sportsman cars and top dragsters had no problems. Friday night the fuel cars started pulling up the thin parts of the asphalt, at 10;30pm friday night the 12' wide x 650' long section of the track was ground down prepped and the new asphalt was being laid by 8:00am saturday morning, and during the afternoon and evening pro qualification sesions some of the pro cars weren't shutting off untill 1000' or more and they anounced several times to the pros to let off at the 1/8th mile but the few cars that ran well past the 1/8th mile didn't tear up the new asphalt and the cars stayed stuck to the track till they let off, so the fresh asphalt held up, my nephew who was driving his 8 second dragster said he couldn't feel any difference from where the concrete ended and where the new asphalt was laid. The company that did the work on the new asphalt are very very good at it. I wasn't to optimistic about how the race would come out being run only 1/8th of a mile but it turned out to be a good show, the grand stands on the pit side of the track end at about the 1/8th mile mark so everyone could see the whole race to the end of the run, it kinda had the feeling of a indoor arena race. It was the best thing to do instead of postponing the race for another date saving racers and fans who traveled any distance fuel costs from having to come back at a later date, it was a bold decision but good decision I think.

 

[willy]

Nice observations Kenneth..thanks.

 

[Terry]

I thought it was a pretty good show. The fans seemed happy.

Tony, Congrats on the R/U finish--pretty good start, eh?